Page 2 of Spiteful Heart

And Fang and Beast. And that sexy as hell Lincoln dude—

Okay, okay, I know. I was getting off-track.

“I didn’t see anyone out of the ordinary,” Sylvester said, leaning into me. He had to shout directly in my ear to speak over the loud music. He reached up and tugged at his tie, loosening it more. Beneath his blond hair, a sheen of sweat lined his forehead; you could only see it when the strobe lights flashed our way.

“Same,” I told him.

“How late are we staying tonight?” he asked. “I have a meeting tomorrow.”

I ground my jaw. Sylvester and his meetings. But, I guess, he was the head of the Luciano family now, so the responsibility of keeping it afloat fell upon him. I didn’t often ask for details about his meetings or his business ventures… I knew better than to put my nose where it didn’t belong. Still, sometimes it felt like he cared more about business than he did about finding this serial killer.

And that pissed me off.

Oh, I was well aware my personal vendetta against the male kind was my own and not one widely shared, but that didn’t lessen the annoying feeling in my heart anytime he brought up his work.

“Why don’t you go?” I asked in a shout, tugging down my mask. “Maddox can drop me off at home.” As many times Sylvester and Maddox had tried to get me to move back in with them, I’d denied them each and every time.

I loved my guys, but I didn’t need to be with them twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Sometimes having Viper and Big Mike living with me was more than enough. It was a reminder that I’d been doing just fine on my own before stumbling into this mess.

I could tell just by the slight downturn of the corners of his mouth he didn’t want to go. Anytime I was out, trying to find this killer, Sylvester wanted to be out with me. Whether that was because he felt guilty about hiding his existence from me or because he simply didn’t want me to get into trouble without him was up for debate. It was probably both. He was so very possessive of me, even after all this time.

My mask hung around my neck, kept in place by a short silver chain that wrapped around the back of my neck—I’d had Fang add to the chain that was already there so I could wear it as a necklace if need be. A heavy as fuck necklace, but a necklace all the same. It currently sat over the diamond-studded skull necklace Sylvester had gotten me not too long ago.

I grabbed his tie and pulled him closer to me, our faces instantly drawing together. “Go home,” I told him, my nose leaning against his, “and sleep. I’ll be fine. Maddox will take good care of me.”

Sylvester so obviously didn’t want to go, but he also knew he couldn’t argue with me. If there was anyone more obsessively possessive over me than him, it was Mad Maddox himself.

One time, last week, we were at a bar doing some undercover surveillance for this serial killer, and someone grabbed my ass. I didn’t even have time to tell the handsy guy to fuck off and kick him in the balls; Maddox had grabbed him, slammed his hand down on the bar counter, and broke it without blinking.

Yeah. My sweet psychopath.

In the end, Sylvester settled for kissing me and saying, “Be safe. Don’t do anything stupid. And if you happen to find something, call me.”

I let his tie go, watching as he got up and walked away. My gaze did drop to his ass, a certain part of me stirring with heat when I looked upon that tight backside.

There was nothing like dress pants to make a guy’s ass look spectacular, let me just say. Sylvester could wear a suit like nobody’s business. I returned my mask to my face after his figure disappeared from view.

Time crawled by after that. I kept watch over the club, over the crowd of people dancing, their bodies swaying to the beat the DJ played, a frown on my face. Clubs like this used to feel like home to me. I’d caught so many men inside them, and yet I couldn’t seem to find the one asshole I was looking for.

Serial killer, oh serial killer, wherefore art thou?

Hours passed. The night morphed into the A.M., and all the while my nerves were shot. Hell, I didn't know what I’d do to that serial killer if I managed to see him here tonight. We couldn't make a big scene, but we’d have to get him out of here somehow.

You know, a part of me wished things could be simple, that we could go back in time to the days when I was just a girl who'd killed the wrong guy. When I had been first brought into this whole mess. Things had changed so much and yet…

Yet did they really change? Sure, I had my three guys, but even they couldn't help me find this damned serial killer.

The Club's hours went till three in the morning, and by the time it was closing most everyone had already left. There were some stragglers, but none that caught my eye. I didn't move from my perched position, not even when Maddox came up to get me.

Some of the regular lights in the club had been turned on, the DJ no longer playing anything on his system. The few people that lingered were being ushered out. No one came to bother me, though—because the bouncers and the workers here knew who I was. They also knew Maddox, and I think they knew what would happen to them if they dared to kick Maddox out.

Maddox sat beside me, running his hand along the side of his jaw. His hairline was covered in sweat, the top few buttons on his shirt undone, revealing the muscles on his chest. Wearing all black, with that dark-eyed stare, he was everything any girl could want. It wasn’t a wonder why so many liked to throw themselves at him. He was the kind of guy that made you wet in the pussy with just a smoldering frown.

And that dick swinging between his legs? That thing could fuck you into oblivion and then some.

“Looks like tonight was a dead end,” Maddox grumbled with a sigh. His black eyes were on me, taking me in. With the mask on my face, he couldn’t tell my expression. It was as hidden from him as it could be. “We’re having a lot of those, aren’t we?” When I didn’t respond, he just said “Fuck,” and leaned back in the booth beside me.

Honestly, I didn’t know what to do at this point. It was clear what we were doing wasn’t working. That fucking guy was probably watching us through the shadows, laughing at our incompetence. Something had to give; I just didn’t know what that something would be.

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